Dave Ross

All posts tagged with non-fiction

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Palestinian Walks (Raja Shehadeh)

Raja Shehadeh’s Palestinian Walks is a series of reflective essays about moving through the landscapes of the West Bank and Gaza region, where walking becomes both a practical act and a way of thinking. Rather than writing conventional travel reportage, Shehadeh treats the route itself as a narrative device—using roads, paths, hills, fields, and ruins to explore how everyday geography is shaped by politics, memory, and loss. The book’s atmosphere is quiet and observant, with the ordinary details of terrain...

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In Xanadu (William Dalrymple)

A travel adventure to commemorate Marco Polo’s journey along the Silk Road, Scottish historian (Cambridge student at the time he took this journey), William Dalrymple, uses older historic narratives and maps to help guide him and fellow travelers from the Holy Land to Xanadu (Shan-tu, just north of Beijing). Dalrymple's more recent book, The Golden Road posits that Indian ships were a more economical and vital trade route than the better known (and slower) land route of the Silk Road....

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Things Become Other Things (Craig Mod)

This is a great book to own in its physical form, as numerous photos are interspersed throughout the essays on the natural beauty of Japan’s Kii Peninsula and its disappearing villages and life. A map plots Mod’s route along the eastern coastline, through once-thriving villages, many now reduced in many areas to a few kissas (akin to diners, though much smaller and offering a far sparser menu than their counterparts in, say, New Jersey), some ryokans here and there, and...

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Hitch-22 (Christopher Hitchens)

Christopher Hitchens reflects on his upbringing, the influences that shaped him, and the philosophical foundations of his worldview. The memoir serves as both a personal narrative and a broader commentary on culture, politics, and belief. One of the book’s strengths is Hitchens’ engaging writing style. His eloquence and command of language draw readers in, making complex ideas accessible. His vivid storytelling, combined with sharp wit and humor, keeps the narrative lively and compelling. We are treated to a rich tapestry...

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The Wager (David Grann)

I first heard of David Grann when he was a guest on Paul Giamatti’s and Stephen Asma’s podcast, Chinwag. At that time, Grann had just come out with a book of essays called The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, which I read and enjoyed in 2024. Grann is also the notable author of the book that Scorcese’s award-winning film Killers of the Flower Moon is based on. The Wager, which I’ve begun reading, and am in the grip of, is about...

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Stanley and Me (Emilio D'Alassandro)

A biography penned by the director’s Man Friday, what we’d call today a personal assistant, I guess. Before taking on that job, Emilio D’Alessandro was a down and out taxi driver who just happened upon the famous director one day when Kubrick was tired of dealing with the regular crew of drivers he had. He asked D’Alessandro if he could be his driver full time. From then on, duties continually increased along with being close to the director, who had...

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Hunter of Stories (Eduardo Galeano)

By Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano and published posthumously, Hunter of Stories offers glimpses into hidden histories, mythologies, and the untold crimes inflicted on indigenous peoples by European explorers and later by large nation-states seeking to exploit the natural resources and workers. Galeano’s idealism comes through even as he retells hard histories in one- or two-page-long chapters. As he notes in one of the stories, “Why not write the big story of the past by telling the little one?” Two samples,...

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Open Veins of Latin America (Eduardo Galeano)

The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano is a seminal work that examines the historical and socio-economic exploitation of Latin America. First published in 1971, it combines history, economics, and personal narrative to provide a critical perspective on the continent’s colonial and post-colonial experiences. Historical Context Galeano begins with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, marking the start of a relentless exploitation of Latin America’s resources. He details how...

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The Devil and Sherlock Holmes (David Grann)

The Devil & Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness & Obsession is a collection of essays by David Grann, who known for writing Killers of the Flower Moon . They are all true tales (some solved, others less so), and the featured essay is my favorite, as I’ve been a fan of the great detective from a young age. Watched all the PBS episodes with my family and when they were only part way through, borrowed my father’s collection of...

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The Captive Mind (Czesław Miłosz)

The Captive Mind by Czesław Miłosz external link . Essays out of central Europe during the First Cold War by one of Poland’s leading intellectuals. The Captive Mind is divided into four parts. Each part examines a different mindset adopted by intellectuals in response to the oppressive political environment. Miłosz analyzes the impact of communist ideology on the human psyche. He delves into how intellectuals compromised their beliefs, suppressed their individuality, and conformed to the demands of the ruling regimes....

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The Return (Hisham Matar)

When Hisham Matar was a nineteen-year-old university student in England, his father went missing under mysterious circumstances. Hisham would never see him again, but he never gave up hope that his father might still be alive. Twenty-two years later, he returned to his native Libya in search of the truth behind his father’s disappearance. The Return : Fathers and Sons and the Land in Between is the story of what he found there. The Pulitzer Prize award for Best Biography...

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Oranges (John McPhee)

John McPhee wrote Oranges in 1967. It delves into the world of Florida’s citrus industry, providing a comprehensive exploration of the orange farming and processing business. The book offers a detailed and informative look at the history, science, and economics behind the cultivation, harvesting, and distribution of oranges. McPhee introduces fun facts for aranciophiles . Such as why harvesters treat themselves to fruit from the top of the trees and only eat the top halves. Oranges are sweetest where they...

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Both Flesh and Not (David Foster Wallace)

Both Flesh and Not: Essays is a collection of fifteen essays by American author David Foster Wallace published posthumously in 2012. It is Wallace’s third essay collection. Apart from the essay on Roger Federer, the rest are Wallace hitting serves past the line.

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The Periodic Table (Primo Levi)

Primo Levi’s Periodic Table is a group of autobiographical episodes of the author’s experiences as a Jewish-Italian doctoral-level chemist under the Fascist regime and afterward. They include various themes that follow a chronological sequence. His ancestry at the start. Then his studies of chemistry and practical use of the studies in wartime Italy. A pair of imaginative tales he wrote at that time, and his subsequent experiences as an anti-Fascist partisan follow. Subsequently, a piece about his arrest and imprisonment,...

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Republic (Plato)

The revised edition of Grube’s classic translation of Plato’s Republic follows and furthers Grube’s noted success in combining fidelity to Plato’s text with natural readability while reflecting the fruits of new scholarship and insights into Plato’s thought since the publication of the first edition in 1974. Divided into ten books, each book of The “Republic” addresses different aspects of the ideal state. In Book I, Socrates engages in a dialogue with several characters, including Glaucon and Adeimantus, to examine the...

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A Walker in the City (Alfred Kazin)

Alfred Kazin’s classic portrait of immigrant life in the early decades of the twentieth century, A Walker in the City is a tour of tenements, subways, and synagogues—but also a universal story of the desires and fears we experience as we try to leave our small, familiar neighborhoods for something new. With vivid imagery and sensual detail—the smell of half-sour pickles, the dry rattle of newspapers, the women in their shapeless flowered housedresses—Alfred Kazin recounts his boyhood walks through this...

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Intimations (Zadie Smith)

Zadie Smith authored Intimations , which was published in 2020 amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic. The book reflects on the unprecedented times and offers Smith’s observations and reflections on various aspects of life during this period. The essays in “Intimations” touch on a range of topics, including the impact of the pandemic, racial injustice, social inequality, and the role of art in times of crisis. Smith explores the ways in which the pandemic has exposed and exacerbated existing societal issues,...

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My Wicked, Wicked Ways (Errol Flynn)

Known to millions as the preeminent swashbuckler of the silver screen, Errol Flynn was a complex man who lived a life far more adventurous than any of his films. In My Wicked, Wicked Ways , Flynn reveals himself to be a self-aware and cosmopolitan devotee of excitement and pleasure. With gusto, he recalls his years as a soldier of fortune in the South Seas, his trip to war-torn Spain, his battles in Hollywood with studio honchos (Jack Warner was a...

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A Swim in the Pond in the Rain (George Saunders)

In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, Saunders shares a version of his writing class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. In the introduction of A Swim in a Pond in...

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Design for the Real World (Victor Papanek)

Design for the Real World by Victor Papanek is a classic anyone involved in design can benefit from. In this edition, Victor Papanek examines the attempts by designers to combat the tawdry, the unsafe, and the frivolous. He provides a blueprint for sensible, responsible, eco-friendly design in this world which is deficient in resources and energy. PART ONE: HOW IT IS WHAT IS DESIGN? A definition of the function complex PHYLOGENICIDE: A history of the industrial design profession THE MYTH...

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Impossible Owls - Essays (Brian Phillips)

The essays in Impossible Owls go beyond simply chronicling some of the modern world’s most uncanny, unbelievable, and spectacular oddities. Researched for months and even years on end, they explore the interconnectedness of the globalized world, the consequences of history, the power of myth, and the ways people attempt to find meaning. He searches for tigers in India, and uncovers a multigenerational mystery involving an oil tycoon and his niece turned stepdaughter turned wife in the Oklahoma town where he...

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Riding Toward Everywhere (William T. Vollman)

Riding Toward Everywhere delves into the history and culture of train hopping. Train hopping has its roots in the Great Depression era when many people hopped trains in search of work. Vollmann examines the allure of train hopping as a way to escape society’s constraints and experience a sense of freedom and adventure. He also explores the dangers and risks inherent in this lifestyle. Risks such as encounters with law enforcement, injuries, and the constant uncertainty of where the next...

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My Struggle, Book 2 (Karl Ove Knausgaard)

The narrative of My Struggle Book 2 unfolds through a series of interconnected vignettes, alternating between past and present. Knausgaard reflects on his strained relationship with his father, who is depicted as a distant and mysterious figure. He delves into his insecurities and the challenges he faces as he tries to find his place in the world. One of the themes of My Struggle Book 2 is Knausgaard’s struggle to reconcile personal freedom and artistic expression with the responsibilities of...

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My Struggle, Book 1 (Karl Ove Knausgaard)

My Struggle Book 1 is the first volume of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s autobiographical series, originally published in Norwegian in 2009. The book is a deeply introspective and honest exploration of Knausgaard’s personal life, relationships, and struggles. It delves into his childhood, his complex relationship with his father, and his journey as a writer. The narrative unfolds in a nonlinear fashion, with Knausgaard reflecting on various episodes from his life. He describes his upbringing in rural Norway, the dynamics within his...

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A Brief History of Time (Stephen Hawking)

While A Brief History of Time deals with complex scientific concepts, Stephen Hawking ensures that readers without a scientific background can still grasp the main ideas. He uses vivid examples and analogies, such as comparing the expansion of the universe to the motion of raisins in a rising loaf of bread, to make abstract concepts more relatable. Hawking takes readers on a journey through the history of cosmology, from ancient Greek philosophers to modern scientific theories. He explores key concepts...

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Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Thomas Piketty)

Capital in the Twenty-First Century is a comprehensive book written by French economist Thomas Piketty and published in 2013. The book examines the dynamics of wealth and income inequality, exploring their causes, consequences, and potential solutions. Piketty argues that the rate of return on capital tends to be higher than the rate of economic growth. This leads to a concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. He presents extensive historical data from various countries to support this claim,...

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Homage to Catalonia (George Orwell)

The book provides a firsthand account of Orwell’s experiences during the Spanish Civil War, where he served as a soldier in the Republican militia fighting against the Nationalist forces led by General Francisco Franco. Homage to Catalonia begins with Orwell’s arrival in Barcelona in 1936, shortly after the outbreak of the civil war. He joins the Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification (POUM). The POUM is a revolutionary socialist group, which became actively involved in the fight against Franco’s forces. Orwell...

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Voyage Around My Room (Xavier de Maistre)

Voyage Around My Room is a whimsical and introspective travelogue written by French author Xavier de Maistre and published in 1794. The book takes a unique approach to travel literature by exploring the world within the confines of a single room. The narrator, who is under house arrest for dueling, embarks on a journey of self-discovery and imagination within the boundaries of his own room. He observes and describes the objects, furniture, and artwork in his surroundings, imbuing them with...

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Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson (James Boswell)

The Life of Samuel Johnson is a biography written by James Boswell and published in 1791. It is a comprehensive and influential account of the life of one of the most prominent figures in 18th-century English literature, Samuel Johnson. One of the notable features of Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson is the inclusion of numerous conversations and anecdotes. Johnson’s wit, wisdom, and idiosyncrasies are all here. These dialogues provide insights into Johnson’s views on a wide range of topics, including...

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The Complete Short Prose of Beckett (Samuel Beckett)

Collected in The Complete Short Prose of Samuel Beckett include “Fizzles,” “Heard in the Dark,” “Ping,” and “The Last Ones.” The Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett was one of the most profoundly original writers of the 20th century. He expressed the anguish and isolation of the individual consciousness with a purity and minimalism that have altered the shape of world literature. A tremendously influential poet and dramatist, Beckett spoke of his prose fiction as the “important writing,” the medium in...

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